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WANTED: A HEART WITHOUT HOLES!

11/16/2022

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Dear Friends,

As Jeremiah 29:13 says, a wholehearted search for God is the key to finding Him. In the same way,  consistent devotion to God's ways is meant to bring greater experiences of His overshadowing glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Many believers are experiencing greater manifestations of God's glory, which are much needed at this time! Around the world, people are having increased encounters with the supernatural realm. 

Lately, I've been asking the Lord how believers can position themselves to receive all the fullness of His glory. What helps or hinders someone's interactions in the glory realm? 

The Lord showed me two things in response. Wholeheartedness helps. But a "heart with holes" is a problem! 


His Inscriptions: Haggai 2


Two Old Testament prophets, Haggai and Malachi, have something to say about hindrances to the Presence of God. Malachi speaks of “robbing” God through the halfhearted giving of tithes and offerings. Haggai says that apathy towards building God's house results in ruin, like carrying a “bag of money with holes.” 

These prophets of restoration warn us about the dangers of neglecting or disounting God. A divided heart is akin to “robbing God.” Greed and selfishness will bring curses and lack. 

The Lord is emphasizing to me that these two scriptures apply not just financially but also in a relational sense right now.

God is not after a portion of our heart, but the whole! Failure to maintain intimacy with God in these end times may mean the difference between life and death. It is like having a heart with holes!


Even in the context of New Testament grace, the danger of a divided heart remains.

While many Christians believe that the tithe is done away with in an age of grace, Jesus does not remove the tithe but increases it! He fulfills the law Himself, then calls us to give up everything for Him, "counting the cost." He moves the plumb line of righteousness from committing adultery to merely looking at someone lustfully. He tells the hypocritical Pharisees: "
You give a tenth (tithe) of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former." (Matthew 23:23)

Jesus's standard for holiness is higher, not lower, than anyone expected. And His standard for relationships is the same. 
​


His Inscriptions Bible Verse

For example, in Acts 4, Joseph of Cyprus (later nicknamed Barnabas) sells a field and lays the full proceeds of the sale at the apostles’ feet, encouraging and financing the early church (Acts 4:36-37). Later, we see the Holy Spirit promoting Barnabas as a missionary and co-laborer with Paul. This notable "Joseph" sows a pure offering from his heart and reaps an international harvest of souls.

Just one verse later in Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira imitate Barnabas’s initial offering, but they bring only a portion of the sale to the apostles. Their hearts are “holey” - greed and secrecy open them up to the enemy’s infiltration. This unfortunate couple is quite literally “slain” by the Spirit, each to their deaths. 

Holiness, unity, and an honorable reputation cannot be bought at the discounted price of lies and selfish ambition. God's anointing, glory, and favor come at cost, and that cost is wholeheartedness; a "heart without holes!" 
​

​
Wanted: A Bag without Holes by His Inscriptions


​OVERSHADOWED WITH GLORY!


On the other hand, Luke 1:35 gives us a picture of a believer whose wholeheartedness helps her to embrace God's glory: Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Most people are familiar with Mary's story of supernatural conception. Mary was not intimate with any man. Yet her pure heart found grace and favor in intimacy with God.

The angel Gabriel announced to Mary: "The power of the Most High will overshadow you like a cloud; for that reason, the holy Child shall be called the Son of God."

Mary wholeheartedly responded to God's words with faith, and the angel said God was "with her."  


The Lord highlighted to me that within this beautiful story are three often-overlooked miracles that occur as a result of Mary's “overshadowing” with the Father of Glory - things that believers can also expect to happen as they engage more and more with the glory realm.

After Mary's encounter, she hurries to the house of Elizabeth, her cousin. Before Mary can even  explain what God has done in her, the Bible says that the SOUND of Mary's greeting causes baby John (John the Baptist) to leap in Elizabeth’s womb.

There is an anointed SOUND OF GLORY in Mary’s voice that is so distinct, it causes an unborn child’s spirit to respond! Not only that, but Elizabeth herself is also filled with the Holy Spirit at the SOUND of Mary's “hello!” 

This pre-Pentecost filling with the Holy Spirit is significant all by itself! Yet God does one more miracle to confirm the legitimacy of Mary’s supernatural intimacy with Him.

After 400 years of silence on the prophetic front, a newly Spirit-filled Elizabeth begins to prophesy to Mary, saying:
 


“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:42-25)

Remember that Mary has not even sat down yet in Elizabeth’s home to share her glorious  “God-encounter!” Before Elizabeth knows intellectually what’s happened, she is baptized in the Holy Spirit - a baptism that is triggered simply by the SOUND of glory in Mary’s voice! 

The Spirit of God ambushes Mary and Elizabeth, releasing unprecedented, prophetic confirmation of God’s glorious work and removing any doubt concerning His future plans being birthed within them! 

How I would love to read Mary’s personal journal, if she kept one, of her experiences with the Lord during that time! Mary’s “Magnificat” (Luke 1:46-56) is the only written record we have of her heart of overflowing gratitude towards God, who was doing such mighty things.

The sound of glory is a spiritual frequency that is tangible and transformative when released. It may not be "heard" by the ears, but it resonates in the spirit!

Because of your faith in Christ, God is now WITH YOU as intimately as He was with Mary. God wants to release this same SOUND OF GLORY through YOUR voice at this hour! 


I believe the “tsunami” of glory that soon covers the earth will be, in part, an anointed SOUND WAVE of unified believers’ voices raised in worship to the King of Glory! The high frequency of the corporate high praise will displace God’s enemies! 

I hear the Lord saying today: “Overshadowing always leads to an overflowing, and I am still overshadowing My people!”

​
The glory that you long for is is found first in your intimacy with Him.


​

​CAN WHOLEHEARTEDNESS SAVE A NATION?
​

Wanted: A Heart Without Holes, by His Inscriptions
​

In 2 Chronicles 16:9, Hanani the seer prophesies to King Asa: “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth so that He may support those whose heart is completely His. You (Asa) have acted foolishly in this; therefore, from now on you will have wars.” (2 Chronicles 16:10; emphasis mine.)

As with King Asa, a wholehearted return to God is essential at this time, not only for personal benefit but also to protect our nation from war. 

King Asa was a reformer and restorer who saw no wars until the 35th year of his reign (2 Chronicles 15:19). It was the turning of his heart away from reliance on God that caused his downfall, both personally and politically. 

James writes: “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:1-3.)

2 Chronicles 20 relates a much better story: King Jehoshaphat faces a similar threat of war, but seeks the Lord. In response to the king's wholeheartedness, Holy Spirit overshadows the son of Zechariah, who then prophesies victory to the King.

Jehoshaphat encourages his people, saying: "
Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” As they worship, the Lord sets ambushes against Moab and Ammon, and Israel never needs to fight; war is averted as the enemy slaughters each other! Notice that it's the higher-frequency sound of glory-filled worship that causes the enemy to flee! 

Today, when national leaders are failing to honor God and war is again imminent, it is critical for believers to remain wholehearted, offering repentant prayers and consecrated worship. The condition of our hearts, combined with the Lord’s heart in fervent prayer, can still stop a war! 


Jesus’ words to the church in Ephesus (Revelation 2) show that offering our hearts to Him in “first love” intimacy is a serious issue, worthy of repentance when we miss it. Especially now, God wants to overshadow wholehearted overcomers with supernatural encounters of love - the only love that can sustain you in times of trial! 


Jesus died to restore intimate trust with you. He's looking for 100% of your partnership, not just a portion. He wants a heart with no holes!

I'm praying that you'll seek God with everything for as long as He enables you! May your wholehearted devotion to God result in continous filling and overshadowing by His Spirit, releasing His glory to all those around you!  
 

~Deborah 

​

FOR REFLECTION:


*A heart with holes cannot contain the glory that God wants to pour into it! Are you living wholeheartedly before the Lord, ready to receive from Him, or does your heart resemble a "bag full of holes?" 

*Acts 4:13 says that unbelievers recognized that Peter and John had “been with Jesus.” Do others recognize that you have a relationship with the Lord? Is His overshadowing Presence evident in your life? Why or why not? (Consider trying the 30-day “Just Jesus” challenge to restore deeper intimacy with the Lord!)

*Take time to study the passages mentioned above: Luke 1, Acts 4, Luke 7:36-50, John 20, and Revelation 2:1-7. What is the Lord speaking to you through these passages? 


*Throughout the New Testament, we find a special place in Christ's heart for believers who are wholeheartedly "with God" like Mary was: birthing, weeping over, and faithfully expecting miracles from God.

It is Mary whom Jesus honors with His first miracle at Cana. It is another Mary who stops a dinner party to wash Jesus's feet with her tears. It is Mary Magdalene to whom Jesus first appears after His resurrection because she waits expectantly by His tomb. 


*Study 2 Chronicles 20, which tells the story of a national leader’s response in the face of war. What was the condition of Jeshoshaphat’s heart? How do you see the Spirit at work in this passage? Who was impacted by God's overshadowing Presence?   

© Deborah Perkins / www.HisInscriptions.com
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    A severe hearing loss from childhood caused Deborah Perkins to develop what she now calls her secret weapon: tuning in to God's voice.  A Wellesley College graduate and an award-winning writer, Deborah is now a wife and mother of 3 boys. Deborah has devoted over 25 years to professional and lay Christian ministry in New England and beyond. Her passion is inspiring people to cultivate greater intimacy with God. 
    You can follow her on social media using the links above. To subscribe to her weekly blog (free) by email, click here. 


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